Schools would get federal grants to hire and keep social workers — with the goal of reaching at least one social worker for every 250 students, and one for every 50 students with intensive needs. The bill authorizes $100 million a year from 2026 through 2030, targeting high-need school districts. Social workers hired through the program would provide counseling, crisis intervention, trauma-informed care, home visits, and help students dealing with homelessness, food insecurity, and other barriers to learning. It also creates a national technical assistance center to study what works and help states build their school social work workforce.
Congressional Summary
School Social Workers Improving Student Success Act This bill provides certain resources to increase the number of social workers in elementary and secondary schools. Specifically, the bill directs the Department of Education to award grants to high-need local educational agencies to retain or hire school social workers. The bill also establishes a national technical assistance center for school social work to, among other duties, develop strategies for improving the effectiveness of the school social work workforce.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in House
- Action Date
- 2026-03-04
- Date Added
- 2026-03-30